Cannabis

Let's talk about pot

Bud, chronic, dak, dope, ganja, grass, maryjane, reefer and skunk. We all know the slang terms for cannabis. Half of us have tried it, and one-in-eight uses it regularly. But is cannabis a glorified gateway to harder drugs and suicide, or some sort of herbal cure-all, benignly bestowed by Mother Nature? Should we be selling it from Courtenay Place cafes, or cracking down harder on cannabis smokers and growers?

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National drug policy

The National Drug Policy (NDP) aims to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders by encouraging the development of strategies and programmes which prevent and reduce drug-related harm.The NDP is in line with World Health Organization and United Nations recommendations of a balanced approach to drug policy.Progress under the NDP is reviewed twice yearly by the Ministerial Committee on Drug Policy (MCDP). Initiatives are progressed and monitored by a group of Government agencies that make up the Inter-Agency Committee on Drugs (IACD).

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New Zealand Customs Service Annual Report 2005/06

The Customs 2005/2006 annual report, released on October 16, the report highlights remarkable achievements notably Customs New Zealand made the largest drug seizure in New Zealand's history and the signing of a Declaration of Principles with the United States are among key achievements made by the New Zealand Customs Service over the past year.

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Health Select Committee report on cannabis use August 2003

Inquiry into the public health strategies relating to cannabis use and the most appropriate legal status and five related petitions (1999/37, 1999/114, 1999/122, 1999/157, and 1999/173) (I.6C) (8 August 2003)

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Inter-Agency Committee on Drugs (IACD)

 A monitoring group of officials, the IACD ensures that policies and programmes developed by government agencies are consistent and mutually supportive. The IACD also makes recommendations to the MCDP on new policy initiatives.

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Ministerial Committee on Drug Policy (MCDP)

Meeting at least twice a year, the MCDP is charged with reviewing progress in implementing the National Drug Policy, and deciding which new policy initiatives should be implemented.The National Drug Policy states that the MCDP is chaired by the Minister of Health and includes the Ministers of Corrections, Customs, Justice, Police, Maori Affairs, Youth Affairs, Transport and Education.

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Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD)

The Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2000 (the Act) established the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) to provide expert advice to the Minister of Health regarding drug classification issues.

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Medicinal cannabis (Evidence review)

This review provides background evidence for the New Zealand Drug Foundation’s policy on the use of medicinal cannabis. It sets out: How the material was gathered and reviewed Background to the medicinal use of cannabis, and context of the present debate Current evidence on existing/potential therapeutic uses and forms, and the relative benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis Legislation, policy and practice in selected countries New Zealand’s current legislation and policy as it may impact on medicinal cannabis. Literature reviewed and review methods used This review aimed to:

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Let's talk about pot


"If 25 years of smoking dope has addled my brain, I must have been an intellectual giant in my youth."
Tim Shadbolt, Author Bullshit and Jellybeans

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"Marijuana is taken by musicians. And I'm not speaking about the good musicians, but the jazz type."
Harry J. Anslinger, Federal Bureau of Marcotics, 1948

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"The nuns did not know what they were and assumed they were large decorative plants."
A police official in Athens tells of a Greek Orthodox nunnery that employed gardeners who turned out to be cannabis growers using the nunnery as their personal plantation.

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